Infernal Child (working title)
by Andie Firehawk
Summary: A Force-sensitive young girl is taken by the Empire for a mysterious purpose... but what? (Work in progress- please R/R!)
1. The Calm Before the Storm

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, yadda, yadda, yadda, you know the drill. Many thanks to George Lucas for letting aspiring writers play in his universe!  
  
Acknowledgements: I have to thank my role-playing buddies Katina, Britt and Camie for letting me use some of their characters in my fic! (I obtained permission from them- anyone who steals these characters will bring four very angry teenage girls on their heads!)  
  
  
  
Rori Firehawk awoke from a fitful sleep, her amber eyes wide with fright. She sat up in bed and looked around as if to reassure herself that everything was okay. The small, almost seven-year-old girl slid out of bed and padded down the hallway to where her guardians Joseph and Annaka Zion were supposed to be asleep.  
  
"Joe? Annie?" Rori called softly into the darkness, wondering if her waking them up would irritate either of the two Jedi. She usually didn't, but it was important.  
  
"Did you have a bad dream, Rori?" Annaka Zion queried, having just woken up. She held her arms out to Rori, a gesture to come sit down.  
  
Gratefully, Rori toddled over with her stuffed toy in hand and clambered into Annaka's lap. A nightlight flicked on, triggered by Joseph using the Force. He sat up, not in the least irritated at this early awakening. "Go ahead, you can tell us," he said calmingly to Rori. Joseph tried to smooth down his cinnamon brown hair, but without success.  
  
Rori cocked her head slightly and studied the Zions. "I did- I had a really bad dream, but this one didn't feel like the rest... it's hard t' say. There were these scary men in white helmets, an'… an' they had big guns…"  
  
The frightened girl snuggled deeper into Annaka's arms, and brushed a fringe of black hair out of her eyes.  
  
Joseph was immediately cautious and concerned. "Stormtroopers?"  
  
"Yeah," Rori replied, her voice growing more quavering and frightened as she went on. "We were eating rhyshcate or something and then a bunch of the scary men came in and started shooting- you two died, and the scary men took me away. The weird thing was, my sister was in it too- and she was laughing, like it was all funny... I felt like something really was gonna happen…"  
  
"A premonition?" Annaka mused aloud. "The future is clouded to even the clearest of seers, but the message this dream is sending should not be ignored. We have to be very careful, Joseph."  
  
Joseph nodded gravely. "Was there more, Rori?" he asked gently, placing a hand on Rori's small shoulder to reassure her.  
  
Rori swallowed her fear and carried on. "Marc came after me, trying to save me or something... it all ended in fire, and then I woke up. I think something really bad is gonna happen…"  
  
Rori was on the verge of tears, and Annaka put a comforting arm about her shoulders. "Trust your intuition," she murmured, not knowing what else to say but wanting to be honest. "The Force may be trying to tell you something."  
  
Rori nodded. "I think now I know why you wouldn't let me go to Yavin 4," she stated. "Because Jance might try to do something bad to me."  
  
Joseph and Annaka couldn't help but be impressed by Rori's perceptiveness for probably the zillionth time since she'd come to stay with them. Neither of the Zions had said anything regarding their reasoning for keeping Rori on Corellia, and she'd figured it out on the basis of a dream. One of her talents could certainly be useful to the Empire.  
  
"You think the Impys have been trying to get me?" Rori queried bluntly.  
  
"To be perfectly honest, it's more than likely," Joseph replied soberly.  
  
Rori would be able to tell if he was being evasive, so there was no point in hiding. "If anything happens, we'll protect you."  
  
"But... what about Marc?" asked Rori.  
  
He's safe on Yavin 4... as long as he has his rubber spiders!" Joseph said dryly, making Rori laugh. Jance Firehawk was Marc's favorite prank target at the Jedi Academy, as he had mentioned once- she especially hated spiders. Of course, the reality of the situation was that Marc was safer from Jance's negative influence than Rori was, as Rori seemed to understand on some basic level. Jance was about six years older than her sister was and far wilier than most people gave her credit for, especially the Jedi.  
  
Rori's slow, even breathing told Annaka that the child was asleep. She carried Rori back into the other bedroom, dearly hoping that the young girl's premonition did not come to pass. Somehow, Annaka didn't think that would be the case.  
  
The next morning, as Rori was having breakfast, the doorbell chimed. Joseph cast out with his Jedi senses and detected two very familiar Force presences. He gestured, and the door opened to admit Cardain Telonia and Joseph and Annaka's eight-year-old son Marc  
  
"Hi, Dad!" Marc said brightly, bounding into the kitchen. "Hey, Mom! We came for a visit!"  
  
Cardain Telonia smiled at Joseph Zion, his long time friend and smuggling partner. "Hey, there, you old decrepit Jedi!" Dain said, giving Joseph a hearty slap on the back.  
  
"Who's 'old', Dain?" Joseph demanded, and laughed. "I was thinking you'd pancaked yourself on an asteroid long before now, you great blowhard!"  
  
Annaka merely smiled and shook her head at the two men. She and Marc exchanged looks.  
  
"He wouldn't dare with me on board!" Marc commented, his baby blue eyes sparkling with humor. He noticed Rori, just before she flicked a spoonful of applesauce at him.  
  
"Hey, Rori- ACK!" Marc exclaimed as a blob of applesauce nailed him in the eye.  
  
Rori giggled and started tugging at Marc's tidy whities with the Force. "Wow, you still know me!" she shot back.  
  
"OW! Mom, Rori gave me a Force wedgie!" Marc whined. "And she flicked applesauce at me!"  
  
Rori responded by flicking another spoonful of applesauce at Marc, and he seized a bottle of syrup and squirted it at Rori.  
  
Their impromptu food fight came to an abrupt end when a fried egg landed squarely on top of Joseph Zion's head.  
  
"Okay, kids, food fight's over!" the older Jedi admonished. He pinned Marc and Rori with a sharp blue gaze. "Clean up time!"  
  
Marc and Rori mumbled apologies to each other and to Joseph, Dain and Annaka. However, when the adults weren't looking Rori poured syrup down Marc's pants.  
  
"Rori!" cried Marc in exasperation. He picked up a ladle and started chasing Rori with it. Rori grabbed a spatula and countered swipes from Marc's ladle. "Touché!" Rori exclaimed, poking Marc in the stomach with the spatula.  
  
Marc pretended to gag and fall over dead, prompting a fit of giggles from Rori.  
  
Cardain grinned at the young children's' antics. "Cute liddle vrelts, aren't they?" he commented wryly. He watched Rori perform a comical victory dance over the prostrate and broadly grinning Marc.  
  
"I win!" Rori exclaimed triumphantly, just as Marc pulled her to the ground, starting a wrestling match.  
  
"Here we go again..." Annaka sighed.  
  
Marc and Rori eventually exhausted themselves, and both sat down on lawn chairs outside where the Zions could see them.  
  
"How'd you get here?" Marc asked curiously, chugging at a bottle of cream soda.  
  
"Joe and Annie got me out of the bad place I was at," Rori replied quickly, not wanting to elaborate.  
  
"Well, you left something behind," Marc told her. He pressed into Rori's hands a half of an old coin on a gold chain.  
  
Rori's eyes widened. "I thought I lost this," she whispered, then impulsively threw her arms around Marc.  
  
"Uh, Rori, leggo, you're choking me!" Marc gasped out.  
  
Rori loosened her fervent hold on Marc. "I'll always keep this!" she promised. "As a token of our friendytude!"  
  
Marc grinned. "As a token of our friendytude," he agreed, remembering Rori's word for friendship when she was two or three.  
  
"Will ya marry me when we grow up?" Rori asked innocently. "When we're both Jedi?"  
  
"Would I ever marry anyone else?" Marc replied.  
  
Annaka came outside to water her plants and couldn't help smiling at Marc and Rori's earnest discussion. "Don't you two mean friendship?" she chided gently.  
  
"No, we mean friendytude!" Marc and Rori exclaimed in unison.  
  
"Jinx!" Rori crowed.  
  
Marc subsided into a flustered silence until Rori decided to say his name. She always seemed to get him on this.  
  
"Marc!"  
  
"What, Rori?" Marc mumbled.  
  
"Want an ice cream cone?" Annaka asked them before either of them could complete their previous thoughts.  
  
"Yeeeeah!" Rori exclaimed.  
  
"Popil fruit or chocolate? Try the popil fruit!" Marc whispered.  
  
Annaka handed each of the children an ice cream cone. "They're so innocent," she said to herself, remembering Rori's premonition the previous night. There was no telling how long the peace would last- maybe days, maybe a couple of weeks.  
  
Rori's seventh birthday came ten days later. Marc was still there with Cardain, just for the occasion. Rori herself had had another dream the previous night, but made no mention of it. "Happy birthday to you, ya live in a zoo!" Marc sang loudly, waking Rori up. "Ya smell like a bantha, and ya look like- OW!"  
  
Rori grinned victoriously. "Ha-ha! Force wedgie!"  
  
Marc shook his head and grabbed Rori's arm, dragging her out the bedroom door. "C'mon, birthday brat! We're all waiting for you!"  
  
Rori laughed and followed Marc to where Joseph, Dain and Annaka were standing around the kitchen table.  
  
"How about breakfast?" Marc commented. "Here, sit down so we can all eat!"  
  
Rori, slightly bemused, sat down and waited for everyone else to do the same. "Hey, pancakes! Yummy..."  
  
"No food fights this time, please, even if it's Rori's birthday!" Joseph commented wryly.  
  
Rori had been covertly aiming a piece of popil fruit at Dain, and she ate her ammunition with a sheepish grin.  
  
"That means you, too!" Annaka scolded, wagging a finger playfully. "No airborne popil fruits!"  
  
"Why, or we'll become airborne?" Marc cracked. "Uh, if Rori levitated my chair I would... ACK!"  
  
Marc toppled backwards onto the floor, much to the amusement of everyone else.  
  
"Don't gimme any ideas!" Rori giggled.  
  
Marc studied Rori curiously. She seemed cheerful enough on the outside, but inwardly she seemed troubled. She'd told him about her dream; maybe that's what was distressing her.  
  
Rori noticed Marc's scrutiny and excused herself from the table, and Marc followed.  
  
"What is it, Marc?" Rori whispered. "You were looking at me funny…"  
  
Marc's baby blue eyes searched Rori's face. "Maybe it's just me, but it seems like something's bugging you."  
  
Rori swallowed a lump. "It's that bad dream. I had it again last night. I'm scared, Marc… I…"  
  
"Scared of a birthday party?" Marc jeered, being a typical eight-year-old. He dodged a swat from Rori as her temper flared.  
  
"That wasn't funny!" Rori said petulantly, her lower lip sticking out in a juvenile pout.  
  
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Marc apologized.  
  
Rori smiled. "Just don't do it again!"  
  
Marc and Rori must have sat there for at least a few hours before Annaka called them in for lunch.  
  
"Blabbermouths!" Annaka teased lightly. "I made rhyshcate- aren't you going to have some?"  
  
Marc jumped up excitedly. "YEAH! I love rhyshcate!"  
  
Rori followed uncertainly, remembering that the rich dessert had been in her nightmare as well. She couldn't help thinking that a squad of stormtroopers wouldn't attract much attention in this remote part of Corellia. The Zions had moved out of their apartment on the fifth floor across from Irving and Caril Firehawk into a small, secluded house that was kilometers away from their nearest neighbor. They liked the quiet- but now, it only seemed like the quiet before the storm. 


	2. The Storm Breaks

A hard pounding on the door confirmed everyone's worst fears. Annaka paled visibly as a voice demanded that they open up.  
  
"Dain!" Annaka whispered, desperation edging her voice. "Take the children and hide! Joseph and I will stay here and try to distract the Imperials! GO!"  
  
Cardain nodded and picked up the terrified Rori in one arm and Marc in the other without effort. "We can't leave you two behind," Dain protested.  
  
"You might have to," Joseph grunted, and pushed Dain out the back door- just as a squad of Imperial stormtroopers burst through the front door with blaster rifles at the ready.  
  
"And what appears to be the problem, gentlemen?" Annaka queried of the lead stormtrooper, hoping to stall for time.  
  
Cardain opened the boarding ramp of the Flare Rider via the Force and ducked inside, hoping that Joseph and Annaka would be able to delay the Imperials long enough for him to get the children safely away. He let Marc and Rori down onto the deck and hit the button to close the boarding ramp.  
  
"The scary men… they're here for me…" Rori whispered. "What if they find us?"  
  
"It won't be 'us' they find," Dain said grimly. "It'll be me. You two will be hidden." He opened up a camouflaged smuggling compartment set into the floor. "It's going to be dark in there," he warned the two children.  
  
Rori shook her head. "I don't care," she said bravely. "Better darkness than Impys."  
  
Dain gently lowered Rori into the compartment, followed by Marc a moment later. "Stay quiet," the Jedi told them calmly. "I'll prep the Flare Rider for takeoff." He closed the trapdoor over Marc and Rori, plunging the two children into total darkness.  
  
The lead stormtrooper swiveled until his blaster rifle was trained squarely on Annaka Zion. An Imperial Army officer- a colonel judging by his insignia- fixed Annaka with a haughty glare.  
  
Whatever Annaka had been about to say died on her lips- especially when she saw the nutrient frames some of the stormtroopers were toting. Oh, no. They're carrying ysalamiri, she thought, her stomach turning to ice water. She felt the Force-empty bubble the ysalamiri created just before the bubble moved over her and Joseph and abruptly cut off access to the Force.  
  
Though being deprived of the Force hampered Joseph and Annaka considerably, they had other means of defense. The Jedi woman couldn't help thinking that Rori would have no way to defend herself other than the Force. She would be rendered helpless by the ysalamiri.  
  
Annaka kept quiet for the moment, but Joseph decided to take action. He pulled out a blaster pistol and shot at a couple of stormtroopers with dead- on aim. He vowed that he was going to protect his son and Rori with his life. "Cardain, get your ass out of here…" he mouthed silently to the air. "Keep those children safe."  
  
Annaka ducked as the living room erupted into a firefight, with Joseph caught in a deadly crossfire. The Jedi ducked most of the shots, but he was no match for the stormtroopers shooting at him when he didn't have the Force.  
  
"Annie!" Joseph gasped out. "It's up to you now…" An ominous silence followed- the stormtroopers had taken Joseph down.  
  
1 "Oh, burning hells…" Annaka muttered. "This isn't good…"  
  
Rori's heart pounded in her ears as she waited in tense silence. She hugged her knees to her chest and rocked rhythmically back and forth, trying to calm herself. She glanced over in Marc's direction, even though the total darkness in the compartment made it impossible to see him. "My dream… it's happening…" she whispered in a small, scared voice. To her own ears, even that tiny whisper sounded unbearably loud in the confines of her and Marc's hideout.  
  
Marc scooted closer to Rori, hoping to offer some comfort. "That's gotta be freaky," he whispered back, his voice tense. Truth be told, he was almost as scared as Rori- his brave front was for her benefit. "Dain's gonna get us outta here…" He stretched out his rudimentary Jedi senses to his parents- and detected nothing. That unsettled the Jedi boy enormously.  
  
"Did you sense that?" he asked Rori. "There's a big spot with no Force!"  
  
"Ysalamiri," the small girl breathed, stumbling slightly over pronunciation, as seven-year-olds are wont to do.  
  
"You know?" Marc queried, surprised. "Who told you about them?"  
  
"Your parents. I been near ysalamiri before… oh, I don't like not having the Force!"  
  
Marc nodded gravely, though Rori couldn't see it. "No foolin'," he murmured. "I hope Mom and Dad get the stormies away!" He put an arm about Rori's shoulders, holding onto her closely as if to protect her.  
  
"I don't like this birthday…" Rori muttered.  
  
Cardain could sense the fear coming from Rori and Marc, and sent calming waves of the Force to them. Marc seemed to relax a bit, but Rori was still tense.  
  
Dain didn't blame her. In her position, he'd be freaked out, too. Rori was the reason he had to get out of here as soon as possible.  
  
"Damn you, piece of junk!" he muttered. The Flare Rider wasn't cooperating- the systems seemed reluctant to even start up.  
  
Calm down, Dain Telonia… he told himself. He took a few deep breaths to dissipate his frustration and started again on the Flare Rider's systems. He, like the children, had sensed the Force-empty bubble generated by the ysalamiri. If that meant what Dain thought it meant, then he, Marc and Rori would soon be in very dire straits.  
  
Even though she had no access to the Force, Annaka went into a semi- meditative trance to collect herself. A few seconds was enough- it had to be, since the stormtroopers had now turned their attention to the Jedi woman.  
  
Annaka had a holdout blaster concealed in her left sleeve, for use in emergencies, and this definitely qualified as one. All she had to do was delay the stormies long enough for Dain to get Marc and Rori off Corellia…  
  
Dain pounded the control panel of the Flare Rider, frustrated that he wasn't making any headway. "Oh, why NOW?" he moaned to himself. "Joseph, Annaka, I hope there's enough time…"  
  
The Flare Rider made a few promising noises, and the repulsorlifts finally fired up.  
  
"We're going to be out of here soon, kids!" Dain said aloud.  
  
Rori was still dubious. "I dunno about this…" she whispered to Marc. "They're gonna find us, aren't they?"  
  
Marc nodded, a lump forming in his throat. "I hope you're wrong," he whispered, hugging Rori fiercely and protectively.  
  
Annaka breathed heavily, having managed to take down a couple of the stormtroopers with stun bolts. She tool the split-second chance it afforded her to break away from the stormies, ending up suddenly behind one of them.  
  
She didn't count on their commander's speed. Annaka felt a searing pain in her left arm and the holdout blaster clattered to the floor.  
  
She reached out with her right arm to retrieve the blaster, but an armored boot casually kicked it away and sent it skittering across the tiles.  
  
"Damn," Annaka muttered to herself, and cradled her left arm in her right hand.  
  
The Imperial colonel sneered and ordered Annaka to her feet, gesturing with his blaster pistol. A couple of the stormies hauled the Jedi woman up, none too gently, by her elbows and pinned her against the wall.  
  
"Where's the kid?" the colonel demanded in a glacial voice, and jabbed his blaster at Annaka for emphasis.  
  
Annaka merely glared defiantly at the Imperials, refusing to let Rori fall into their hands. She kept her mouth clamped tightly shut, even though she knew what the Imperials were capable of doing to people to extract information.  
  
The colonel gestured, and one of the stormtroopers hit Annaka in the stomach with a blaster rifle, bringing the Jedi woman to her knees.  
  
"Where is she?" the colonel repeated, his expression one of wrath.  
  
"I'll never tell you," Annaka spat. Milliseconds later, she heard the unmistakable roar of the Flare Rider starting its engines, as did the Imperial colonel.  
  
"She's in that ship," the officer snapped out. Now that he knew where the child was, he had no use for Annaka. The last thing she heard was the sound of stormtroopers marching outside…  
  
Dain hissed to himself for probably the tenth time in as many minutes. He should've been out of there already! "C'mon, you hunk of junk!" he coaxed the Flare Rider. "Things can't possibly get any worse…"  
  
The Flare Rider abruptly shut down, as if all power has suddenly been cut off.  
  
"Spoke too soon, apparently- things just got worse…" he groaned. It looked like things were still going downhill. The boarding ramp fell open, and several stormtroopers and an officer strode swiftly into the Flare Rider, searching everywhere for a seven-year-old girl as Dain watched helplessly.  
  
Rori's pulse seemed to quadruple as she heard the footsteps clang against the metal of the Flare Rider's deck. She shrank even more into the corner of the smuggling compartment, if that was possible, as Marc tried to offer reassurance.  
  
"They're going to find me…" Rori whispered. "I can't do anything without the Force!"  
  
The stormies were making their circuit of the ship, checking cargo holds and every nook and cranny. Neither of the children could hear Dain- apparently, he'd either been shot or perhaps chucked into one of the cargo holds.  
  
Then, a blinding light speared into the smuggling compartment, causing both the children to bring their hands up over their eyes. Their eyes had gotten used to the darkness; the flood of light dazzled them for a few moments.  
  
"Uh-oh. Stormies!" Marc whispered, his voice almost inaudible. He peeked up at the white helmets above the rim of the compartment, trying rather futilely to shield Rori with his own greater size. One of the stormies simply prodded him aside with a blaster rifle and into the opposite corner, leaving Rori exposed.  
  
Rori had just enough time to register what kind of trouble she truly was in before she was hauled bodily out of the compartment by a couple of stormtroopers. She let out a pained cry of surprise, then abruptly gathered her wits about her and started fighting back, kicking and punching at the stormtroopers restraining her.  
  
Marc also got his bearings and scrambled up out of the compartment to go to Rori's aid, leaping upon one of the stormtroopers' backs and beating upon the white helmet with his fists.  
  
"Leave my friend alone, creepazoids!" Marc shouted bravely. "She never did anything to you!"  
  
The Imperial colonel snatched Marc off the stormtrooper and savagely flung the Jedi boy into a wall, where he crumpled in a limp heap like a child's discarded plaything.  
  
Rori, in the meantime, had managed to worm one of her arms free and was laying about with one fist and both of her feet, ineffectually pummeling the stormtrooper who had a grip on her other arm.  
  
"Hold her," the colonel ordered, and came up behind Rori with a syringe full of a clear, colorless liquid. A strong sedative, enough to knock a bantha out cold.  
  
Rori felt the prick of the needle in her neck and stifled a cry, finally fully realizing the hopelessness of her situation. She felt a warm lethargy set in as the sedative rapidly took effect, numbing muscles and rendering her immobile and completely incapable of resistance. She was hardly even aware as she was hauled onto the shuttle the Imperials had arrived in, completely oblivious as the Imperials placed her in a holding cell on board the shuttle.  
  
Inside the shuttle, a tall, white-clad Imperial scientist stood waiting with a wily smile on his features. "Colonel Virgil," Doctor Roger Alighieri greeted smoothly, studying the Imperial officer. "You have the girl."  
  
It was a simple statement of fact, not a question.  
  
Colonel Virgil nodded. "Yes, Doctor Alighieri. I've given her enough sedative to keep her down for several hours, if not closer to a day. Furthermore, I highly doubt the people we found her with are going to be following us anytime soon."  
  
Doctor Alighieri nodded and brushed back his ashy brown hair. "Good, our business here is done, so let us leave."  
  
Marc awoke with a groan, his whole body hurting after being thrown against the wall like that. The Force had returned to him- the Imperials were long gone by now.  
  
Marc's breath caught in his throat as he realized that meant Rori was gone, too.  
  
"Rori…" he breathed, and started sobbing. "Dain… she's… she's gone…"  
  
Dain's mouth compressed into a grim line. "I'm afraid so, kit," he said darkly.  
  
Marc saw that Dain looked no better than he felt. "The ship won't work, will it?"  
  
Dain shook his head. "I think the Imps disabled the Flare Rider- we'll have to stay at least a few days to repair it."  
  
Marc blew a cinnamon lock of hair out of his face. "So we won't be able to find Rori… what did they want her for?"  
  
"I wish I cold tell you, Marc," Dain said with a wan look. "We better go find your parents and make sure they're okay."  
  
Marc nodded quietly, having managed to curb his tears. He darted into the house and started calling for his parents.  
  
"Mom? Dad?" Marc queried.  
  
A voice replied weakly; it was Annaka Zion, sitting upright against a cabinet and holding onto her left arm.  
  
"Marc… Marc, I'm glad you're safe."  
  
Marc's face fell. "But Rori isn't…" he muttered miserably. "The Imps took her…"  
  
Dain was bending over Joseph, checking the other man's pulse. "Hey, you all right?" he asked softly, wondering why he was even saying it.  
  
Joseph moaned softly and blinked, looking up at Dain with light blue eyes. "Is Annaka okay?" he asked, his voice barely audible. "What bout Marc and… Rori?"  
  
Joseph knew even before Dain told him what had happened to Rori.  
  
"We'll be getting back to Yavin after I have repairs done on the Flare Rider," Dain said as he applied a bacta patch to Joseph's blaster wounds. "The Imperials knocked out several important systems." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I failed. I failed to protect Rori and get her away. I failed you two and Marc, and I failed Rori herself."  
  
Joseph sat up, wincing slightly, and leaned an arm on Dain's shoulder. "We all did what we could," he said with resignation. "You, myself and Annaka-" Joseph's eyes found his son. "And you too, I'm sure, Marc."  
  
Marc nodded soberly, far more serious than he usually was. "Yeah, I jumped on one of the stormies… beaned 'im on the head, but there were way too many of 'em!"  
  
Joseph smiled weakly. "I'm sure Rori gave a heroic account of herself as well- I doubt she would be one to go quietly." 


	3. Thunderheads

Rori drifted in and out of consciousness for a long while, kept under by the strong sedative that had been administered to her. She eventually returned to consciousness, hearing the dull thrum of the hyperdrive and feeling the cold, metal floor of the holding cell pressing against the left side of her face. She wondered where the Imperials were taking her, then tried to raise her head to get a good look at her surroundings.  
  
The fact that it had been Rori's birthday was utterly forgotten, replaced by the vague feeling that she was indeed seven years old and not six years as she had been the day before. It didn't matter a bantha's toenail, because it certainly didn't feel like a birthday anymore.  
  
Rori stayed pressed against the floor for awhile, paralyzed as much by fear as by the sedatives. *Still can't move…* the seven-year-old thought, very unhappy with her situation. She drifted back to somnolence and awoke again a few hours later, this time feeling a little more mobile. She wiggled her fingers experimentally, then tried getting up into a sitting position against a wall.  
  
Rori noticed a food tray of some sort sitting right by where she'd been laying, figuring the Imperials didn't want her starving to death.  
  
"I'm… I'm still alive?" she muttered to herself, and shakily picked up the tray of food. "Why, though?"  
  
Roger Alighieri observed the child carefully, watching how she reacted to her new circumstances. "An interesting child…" he said to himself. "She'll be quite useful if dealt with properly."  
  
Alighieri was not one to deal with people carelessly- especially small children. Rori in particular he would have to be extremely careful with so as not to turn her against the Empire. She seemed rather upset as it was, which was quite understandable, but hopefully that would pass. He also hoped that the child's fear wouldn't paralyze her into complete inaction.  
  
"I suspect she will be rather difficult to control- it will be a tough challenge, albeit a rather welcome one…" Alighieri said to himself, and smiled. Only time would tell how his plan would unfold.  
  
A week later back on Corellia, Dain Telonia had finally completed repairs on the Flare Rider. He calmly told Joseph and Annaka that it really was best for him and Marc to get going; there was nothing further for them to do there.  
  
"Stay safe," Joseph cautioned. "And you, Marc- be good!"  
  
Marc smiled in a subdued manner, obviously still shaken by Rori's disappearance. "I will," he promised.  
  
"And do try to let Jance alone," Annaka added, all the while knowing Marc would do no such thing.  
  
Marc played with his necklace all the way to Yavin 4, remaining silent almost the whole time. Dain felt sorry for the little boy- he would likely bear the scars of what had happened for a very long time.  
  
He only broke his silence when he and Dain landed on Yavin 4.  
  
"What about Jan?" Marc queried. "I think she's trouble…"  
  
Dain wished he could answer that. The older Firehawk sister was a strange one, to be certain- she had a talent for toying with minds and was highly adept at manipulating water and ice. She also exhibited cunning far beyond that of most twelve-year-olds. One never knew what was next with her.  
  
Besides that, Jance also tended to isolate herself voluntarily, interacting with others her age only when necessary. She was quiet and introverted, spending the vast majority of her free time in the library studying the Holocrons.  
  
"Dain!" a voice greeted from outside the Flare Rider. A woman with long, sun-streaked auburn hair and piercing, blue-violet eyes came up to the ramp of the Flare Rider.  
  
"Dain, get your rancor's ass out here!" Alana Timaris called out. The tall woman flashed a smile in Marc's direction as he cautiously peeped out.  
  
"Hey, little Zion," Alana said gently, seeing that something was up. "Something the matter?"  
  
"Yeah, a family friend went missing," Dain replied. "Related to someone at this temple, actually."  
  
Alana bit her lip. "Well, don't I at least get a hug, you cheapskate?" she demanded playfully.  
  
Much to Marc's chagrin, the two Jedi embraced each other tightly, then locked together for a moment in a brief kiss.  
  
"Bleah," Marc said, sticking out his tongue. With that, the Jedi boy ran into the Temple- and nearly bumped into someone else on the way.  
  
"Oops," Marc said sheepishly, looking up into a pair of deep blue and very intelligent eyes, in an elegantly-featured face framed by soft waves of raven black hair. The twelve-year-old girl these features belonged to stared down at Marc for a moment, her lip twisting in mild annoyance.  
  
"Back already, Zion?" Jance drawled, mildly sardonic. That seemed to be one of Jance's hallmarks- referring to everyone by last name.  
  
"Y-y-yeah…" Marc stammered. Jance always made him nervous- he swore the older girl enjoyed it.  
  
"I still owe you one for dyeing every shirt I had neon green… plus the zillion-and-one times you scared me with that darn rubber spider of yours!"  
  
Marc blinked but didn't reply.  
  
Jance studied Marc curiously, trying to puzzle out what was inside the boy's mind.  
  
"You're thinking about Rori…" Jance stated at last. "What's happened to her now?"  
  
No one on the ship save Alighieri himself knew precisely where Space Station Omega was. Its location was a jealously guarded secret- no one but the people in the highest echelons of the military and the science department knew the location.  
  
Alighieri himself docked the ship after providing proper clearance codes. He collected Rori from the holding cell- the girl was thankfully unconscious at the time, asleep. That would make the transfer about a thousand times easier.  
  
"Were she awake, the child could create quite the inferno if given the chance…" Alighieri mused aloud. Hence, the name of her project: Inferno. It made perfect sense.  
  
It would definitely be a challenge to work with Rori, or perhaps even convince her to show her ability. She might have had an ingrained fear of using her power. Well, Alighieri would take care of that, one way or another- and hopefully accomplish a few things in the process.  
  
Marc stared wonderingly at Jance. How had she known? "Rori?" he queried dumbly.  
  
"You can't fool me, Marc," the older trainee said under a pretense of playfulness, but Marc knew there was something more.  
  
"Something happened to her…" Marc said soberly. He didn't want to discuss it further, but Jance didn't leave him alone. She even used the Force to pick up bits and pieces from Marc's thoughts.  
  
"Imperials…" Jance said quietly. Beyond that, she said nothing else to betray her feelings.  
  
Marc couldn't help wondering if Jance that was actually glad that had happened. It certainly made sense, considering what had happened in the past.  
  
"Jan-Jan, there's a spider on you!" Marc exclaimed, and threw a rubber spider at Jance.  
  
"AIIIEEEE!" Jance screamed. "Get it off! Get it off! GET IT OFF!"  
  
Marc laughed and scuttled away. "Toodles!" he cried, and shot off with a couple of his friends.  
  
Jance clenched her teeth and shook her fist after Marc. "That's another one I owe you!"  
  
Marc ignored Jance and turned a corner before the older trainee could do anything to him.  
  
Jance similarly flounced off. "That boy," she muttered to herself, "is going to find himself in really hot water one of these days."  
  
"Hello, Jance," a voice said from behind her.  
  
"Oh, hi, Master Timaris," Jance greeted nonchalantly.  
  
Alana smiled at Jance, studying the girl closely. It had been Jance's little sister who'd been taken by Imperials…  
  
"You… you know what happened."  
  
"Imps got Rori… why wasn't she here in the first place? She would've been safe!" The girl was quiet for a moment, then spoke up again, this time with a distinct edge of bitterness in her voice. "If she were here and not with the Zions, she wouldn't have been taken…"  
  
Alana thought she saw Jance's deep blue eyes go a steely gray momentarily, but it must've been just the light.  
  
"I guess there's nothing I can do about it…" Jance murmured, and sighed convincingly. Inwardly, though, Jance was laughing her head off. It was certainly good to hear that Rori was being... well taken care of.  
  
Jance kept these thoughts well hidden so Alana couldn't pry into her mind, and looked up with an innocent smile. "Wanna spar?" she asked.  
  
Alana was momentarily thrown by Jance's change of subject, but covered it up and smiled. Jance was one of the best duelists in her age group that Alana had ever seen.  
  
"Yes, why don't we?" Alana said mildly, and led Jance to one of the training rooms.  
  
Jance grinned back, and twirled one of the practice sabers that was kept around for that purpose. "Maybe I'll beat ya this time," she said cheekily.  
  
Alana raised an eyebrow. "We'll see about that," she said, igniting the violet blade of her lightsaber.  
  
Jance thumbed on the blade of the practice saber, which was a sort of sickly pea-green-white color. "This lightsaber needs help," Jance commented. "Oh, well." With that, the young trainee began to warm up with a few experimental thrusts.  
  
Alana had to smile. "Better than getting one that's bright pink," she returned, and went into a defensive stance, watching Jance to see what she'd do.  
  
In a quicksilver movement, Jance darted forward and stabbed at Alana, and was quickly parried away.  
  
Alana parried a couple more strikes from Jance, then slashed at the young trainee in an arcing movement that almost bisected her. The Jedi Master followed it up with a series of feints, testing Jance's judgement.  
  
Jance eyeballed Alana, a confident smirk pulling at a corner of her mouth. She sprung high in the air when Alana tried to sweep her feet from underneath her, and landed a few feet away in a combat crouch. She brought her lightsaber up into a defensive position.  
  
Alana lunged at Jance, who used her smaller size to her advantage and dodged to one side. She flipped out of the way to give herself more working room, and Alana continued to press the attack.  
  
"You're getting better, Jance," Alana commented. Jance had managed to work her way out of the corner she was in with her usual fluid grace, and with a few more deft moves she'd reversed her and Alana's positions.  
  
Alana was now pinned against the wall, with Jance grinning triumphantly and pointing the sickly green lightsaber at her. However, Alana wasn't a Jedi Master for nothing- she switched her own violet saber to her other hand and brought it around in a slashing movement at Jance's saber hand, striking the blade out of the trainee's grasp and sending it flying across the room. The Jedi Master smiled benignly, her saber now pointed at Jance's chest.  
  
Jance darted a look from the deactivated practice saber to Alana, frowning slightly. "Well, darn," she murmured, "I thought I had you!"  
  
Alana smiled. "You're very good, Jance, but you have a lot of learning yet to do," she commented, and closed down her blade. She returned the hilt to its position on her belt, and picked up the practice saber from the ground and put it away. "See, if you get too cocky, your opponent can exploit that," she continued, studying Jance the whole time.  
  
Jance laughed ruefully. "Yeah, guess so," she admitted. "How about we go eat? Saber fighting makes me hungry!"  
  
Alana smiled. "Agreed," she returned, and headed for the dining hall. 


	4. A Flicker of Flame

Rori came awake again and was strangely not surprised to find herself in yet another unfamiliar place. She had no idea how long her trip had lasted- her time sense had been screwed up by the fact that she'd been mostly asleep the whole time. It could've been a few days; it could've been a week.  
  
"W-where am I?" she asked, though there was supposedly no one to hear her.  
  
She looked around to try and get some idea of where she could possibly be. Getting acquainted with her surroundings was always her first instinct, and it nearly always served her well. Not that it would do her any good this time- all that was in the room (actually, Rori thought it was more of a cell) was the bed she was sitting on, which was bolted to the wall, a refresher thingy back in a corner somewhere and a mirror.  
  
A mirror? What for? Rori thought, puzzled. She tapped on it experimentally, then took off one of her shoes and hurled it at the mirror with all her strength. It merely bounced off and onto the metal floor.  
  
Make that a mirror that's made of really strong stuff… Rori thought again. She retrieved the shoe and put it back on, because the floor was really cold.  
  
"That was a pointless exercise," a voice remarked from somewhere, making Rori jump. She glanced quickly around, trying to locate where the voice was coming from.  
  
"You're not going to be throwing footwear at people, now are you, Rori?" the voice continued.  
  
"Who are you? Where are you? What am I doing here?" Rori demanded anxiously, her fear showing plainly.  
  
"Now, now, one question at a time," the voice admonished, startling Rori into a nonplussed silence. She'd figured out that whoever it was had been speaking to her via some sort of intercom.  
  
From the other side of the two-way mirror, Alighieri smiled to himself in amusement and thumbed off the intercom to Rori's cell. "Well, I do hope she isn't always that jumpy," he said to himself. "That could get rather disagreeable…"  
  
At any rate, Rori knew she was being watched all the time, so she'd have to govern herself more carefully. Alighieri had little doubt that, if presented a chance, Rori could probably figure a way off this space station, eventually.  
  
"But not while I'm around…" he stated. A scientist had to have a certain degree of cleverness, which Alighieri had in great measure. Unlike certain people he could think of… Iskander came to mind- the man in charge of the Resurrection project.  
  
"I don't even know why I let him near that project," Alighieri muttered. "So long as he doesn't find out about this particular child quite yet." Speaking of Rori, he would go see her in a little bit…  
  
Rori had recovered from the scare of having some creepy dude make remarks about her use of shoes as projectiles, or rather the futility thereof, and had set about to wondering why she was here.  
  
Oh! DUH, Rori! You're a pyro! That's why they want you! Rori realized, wondering at her own stupidity. Well, I'm not gonna give 'em anything…  
  
Her mind thus made up, Rori decided to wait for whatever came next- as if there was anything else she could do.  
  
A bit later, after Rori had exhausted all avenues of thought as to why the Imperials wanted her, she was once again startled out of her thoughts when that same voice greeted her again, except this time the man it belonged to was in the room. Instead of saying something, like her visitor undoubtedly wanted her to do, Rori remained defiantly silent and glared up at this strange man. He's a… scientist? She thought bemusedly, taking in the guy's white lab coat and general air of… well, classic Imperial arrogance, for one thing. Rori judged him to be anywhere from thirty to fifty years old- he had that ageless look about him.  
  
Alighieri noticed Rori studying him intently, and smiled wryly at her. "We might as well be on a name basis with each other," he said, without waiting for Rori to acknowledge him. "I am Doctor Roger Alighieri."  
  
Rori continued to glare at him with a mixture of fear and indignation. "So now I know who the devil is," she retorted.  
  
"If you believe in such things, yes…" Alighieri replied, completely unfazed. He almost never lost his temper; a little girl's insults really didn't bother him.  
  
Then, a voice on Alighieri's comm unit brought him abruptly out of Rori's cell. He gave the young girl a look that said he'd deal with her later.  
  
  
  
  
  
Note from the Writer: Okay, it could be a while before I get more of this fic up- it promises to be LOOOOONG! Sticks tongue out at school and track team 


	5. A Child's Defiance

"Yes, Doctor Iskander?" Alighieri said into the comm, keeping his annoyance under firm control. He figured his subordinate had more test results from the Resurrection project. So far, one of the children was responding rather well, from what he'd seen…

"I will take a look at the results as soon as possible," Alighieri returned after Iskander spewed out his report that apparently _couldn't _wait.

"I would like to know how you justify doing these things, Doctor," a female voice said from behind Alighieri. "I thought you were a man of ethics…" She gave Alighieri an almost mocking smile. "Don't you feel just a little guilty for exploiting the fact that this girl's parents think she's dead? Especially since her parents are loyal Imperials?"

Alighieri arched an eyebrow at the younger woman, but did not dignify that with an answer. He normally would've replied, but he wasn't really in the mood for a match of wits with Ta'ana. 

Ta'ana picked up on Alighieri's silence and smiled wolfishly, her green eyes flashing. "Ah, guilty, I see," she shot at him.

"No, not really- whatever has to be done, has to be done," he replied, unfazed.

Ta'ana tut-tutted at him and shook her head. "It seems your morals shift daily, Doctor," she replied. "If you had any."

"Now, when did morals get involved? When you decided to be a pain in the arse?" Alighieri said humorously.

Ta'ana shot Alighieri a glacial look that ended conversations with most people, but hardly fazed the older scientist. "Not funny," Ta'ana grumbled. 

"I did not mean to be," Alighieri replied. "You are, indeed, a pain in the arse. But anyone who makes other people think excessively can lay claim to that title…"

"In that case, you're their king," Ta'ana shot back.

Alighieri looked at Ta'ana over one shoulder, and then walked over to the two-way mirror and peered in at Rori. She was frozen in place on her cot, staring blankly ahead at something invisible. The scientist almost felt sorry for the girl… almost.

Rori glanced up momentarily as a lab coat-clad woman came in with a tray of food, then returned her gaze to the mirror across from her. She stared at her reflection, seeing her own wide, frightened eyes peering back at her. That strange woman who'd left the food didn't help matters any, either- something about her set the young girl on edge; unnerved her enormously. Then again, being here unnerved her- it couldn't have been that woman specifically.

Rori shot a look over at the food tray, not feeling a bit hungry and not caring, either. Let the Imperials do what they want about it… she didn't have to go with their agenda if she didn't want to.

Marc continued to agonize over what had happened to Rori- despite all outward appearances, her disappearance hurt him deeply. Putting up with Jance only made matters worse- the older Firehawk sister never failed to creep him out. He didn't want to think about that at the moment, though…

"Hey, Marc-a-Zoid, what's got your lightsaber in a knot?" asked the annoyingly cheerful voice of Marc's friend Cyan. The fellow trainee took a seat next to Marc at a cafeteria table, pushing back a shock of brown hair that always seemed to be sticking out everywhere.

"Oh, great, if it isn't the Incredible Jedi Annoyance himself," Marc muttered, irritated. "If one of your friends got taken by Imps, you wouldn't be very happy either."

The cheeky smile on Cyan's face faded somewhat, and his gray eyes lost their former sparkle. "Aw, vrelts," he pouted at Marc. "I was gonna play a prank on Jance and the other girls."

"Have fun," Marc commented wryly. "Don't get caught by Master Keer, he'll tell Master Ellena and she'll be mad!" He gave a lopsided smile. "And you know what she'll do to ya…"

Cyan got a look of mock horror. "Oh, noooo! She'll make me work in the infirmary with the icky-smelling medicines!"

Marc had to grin. He'd done infirmary duty too many times to count after running afoul of one of the Najoquis. It was a boring task- mostly rearranging stuff and fetching bandages and the like. For young, nine-year-old boys who just wanted to have fun, it could have been considered cruel and unusual punishment. "Well, if you get in trouble, I'm sure not bailing you out! Now, get outta here!"

Cyan grinned and brandished a tube of extra-strength hair goop. "Haha! I'm gonna give Jance a new hairdo while she's meditating!"

"Cyan! Go 'way before I tell on ya anyway!"

Cyan disappeared around a corner, still laughing. About fifteen minutes later, a scream sounded from the vicinity of the dormitories, and Jance came storming out with her hair spiked on end. Cyan's prank had worked like a charm. In the back of his mind, Marc could hear Rori's laughter- she would have been quite amused by her older sister's predicament.

"We'll get you back someday, Rori," Marc promised to the now still air, clutching his necklace tightly as if to seal that covenant. "Even if we have to search the entire galaxy an' take on the whole Empire, too."

However, as time wore on, he forgot his promise- Rori herself became a distant memory, and his image of her faded until Marc could no longer recall who she was or why she'd been so important to him.


End file.
